Launched June 23, 2004 Owned by Ethnic Channels Group Owner Ethnic Channels Group | Closed February 23, 2009 Broadcast area National Founded 2005 Extinction 23 February 2009 | |
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Tonis was a Canadian category 2 Ukrainian language digital cable specialty channel owned by Ethnic Channels Group (ECG) with its name licensed from the owners of the Ukrainian television channel, Tonis.
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The channel broadcast a variety of programming primarily from Tonis including news, sports, cultural programs, and talk shows.
Inter+
In September 2003, Ethnic Channels Group was granted approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to launch a television channel called Ukrainian TV One, described as "a national ethnic Category 2 specialty television service providing programming primarily in the Ukrainian language."
On June 23, 2004, ECG launched Inter+ using the Ukrainian TV One licence. Inter+ broadcast programming from Inter+, an international channel broadcasting programming from Inter.
Channel 5
In September 2005, ECG re-branded Inter+ as Channel 5 (in Cyrillic: “5 канал”), broadcasting programming from Channel 5, a national news network from Ukraine.
1+1 International
On June 2006, in its effort to boost subscription to the channel, ECG re-branded Channel 5 as 1+1 International which broadcast programming from 1+1 International, a Ukrainian-language TV channel from Ukraine. 1+1 International, itself, was an international channel broadcasting programming from Studio 1+1 for Ukrainian communities outside the Ukraine. The channel broadcast a variety of programming including news, documentaries, talk shows, and more.
Tonis
In the fall of 2008, the Ukrainian channel, 1+1 International, became no longer available in North America. By that time, Rogers, the largest Canadian television service provider at the time, had dropped the Canadian channel from its line-up due to low subscriptions. As a result of both of these situations, ECG, yet again, rebranded the channel as Tonis (in Cyrillic: “Тоніс”). The channel broadcast programming from Tonis, an informational & educational channel from Ukraine.
In February 2009, both Aurora Cable and Telus TV, the only other carriers of the channel at the time, dropped the channel from their line-ups, rendering the channel no longer available.